Method of and apparatus for measuring and indicating or automatically recording small distances



@(Zih 11$, Egg. i SWERTSEN 2,176.015

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND INDICATING OR AUTOMATICALLY RECORDING SMALL DISTANCES Filed Feb. 5, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet l l lll/l P INVENTOR ff r wwwmram AT'E'ORNEY oct. 10. 1939. J, SNERTSEN 2,176,016

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND INDICATING OR AUTOMATICALLY RECORDING SMALL DISTANCES Filed Feb. 5, 1935 S Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR g m-J W BY @631... 10, 1939. j SWERTSEN 2,176,016 V METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND INDICATING OR AUTOMATICALLY RECORDING SMALL DISTANCES Filed Feb. 5, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 10, 1939 METHOD oF AND URING CALLY APrABArUs FOR MEAs- AND INDICATING on AUTOMATI- nnconnmo SMALL DISTANCES Jens Sivertsen. Philadelphia. Pa., aasignor to Tinlus Olsen Testing Machine Company, Philgdelphia, Pa.,

a corporation of Pennsylvania Application February 5, 193$,Serial No. 5,056

7 Claims.

The object of my invention is to devise a. novel method olsmd apparatus for accurately measur mg and recording small distances, which, Eelthough not limited to such use, is particularly adopted to measure and record the elon'golion cool compression to which specimens under test are suhjecireol.

An omzlyols oi the problems involved will give e. clear description of the objects in view.

The opporotus may be considered as comprlslog the following coordinated swoops:

A pick up system comprising moons to lrsiosloll e s smell change in distance into on electric vollooe, or on unbalance in on electric network. 2. ii vacuum tube omplifier lo omxolily the voliz= ego of the pick up syslen'l in such 9, msnnev bl-lot the oulput volioge from the omoiiflec is oporoximotely proporl'ionol to the input voiloge.

3. An output system consisting of thermionic volves, which may ire vocoom inloes ox thyroirons, and o motor arrangement. The colonial from the om olifies controls the thermionic volves.

The thermionic valves control:

o. The direction of rotation of the motor.

I). The speed. of the motor.

0. The moment of torque, oml thereby ll. The occelesotion omi celovdsiion oi the mo lor.

4. Mechanical meom to cause the motor to drive the recording mechanism such. oo o, :9 mm; or dial si'i'ongement.

5. A neutmlizing. en'angement whereby the motor mechanism oileclss the nick no system cons ing the generoteo volloge to clisoppeoi', neutroilee, or restore line electrical eoullilmrirma "llmc socori oi; which the indicator is moved, which also resizores the electric equilibrium, and the speed at which the moi-or mm is dependent; upon iiie'enient to which the eoullilociom is out of look once.

The oops-rooms consists of a, system oi mechanicol, elecfuronic, ond electromotivemesns; but the colon measurement is not. meckionicol, electrical! oi: olecizoonlc but depends upon maintaining o, geometric figure, no these means are only devices to restore a certain given geometric configurw lion.

The mechanical arrangement of items 1 and 5 can be movie in different ways to suit dill'erent 0 requirements as to accuracy or other special requixements. Two ways which have been advantageously used and which come within the broaci principle of the invention are herein set forth. The items 1,, 2 and 3 form a follow-up system which may be any suitable arrangement. of elecfill (on. 265-2l lronlo control. whereby a small change in dim tance, temperature, light or pressure is the pri mery couse of the rotation of a motor.

There are two major, mechanical objects in view: i. To provlde instrumentallties to obtain foregoing objects without placing any extra cow slant load on the specimen to be tested one time weight of the apparatus.

2. To provlole mechanical moons to. ooioln main objects by leaving a. very small permanent load on the specimen.

A necessary objective in testing was llao ell-o triloution of weight in such monner 31ml. time weight of the anomalous would have no so bemi loin specimens.

Another object was to make the some pick: omzi aligning; oppnratus applicable to all oi ll messes without any opoi'eoisiole increase in Weight of lloe system and for this purpose @Qif loin feotures oi the Robert B. Lewis, U. em". No. 153L111 have been incorporated in embodiment shown in Figure 2 of the drawings.

Other objects of the invention will hcreinofier appear in the detailed description anal the on Y pended claims.

With the foregoing in view, my invention comm pmhenos 9. novel method oi. and. apymotoo fol measuring and recording small distances.

other novel steps of the method coo lcotnoco of construction will hereinafter: clesrly appear: the detailed desciiptlon and the oppencleci oloinoo.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention. K have soovvn m the accompanying ell-ow o typi col embodiments of it, which, in proclice, will give reliable anol satisfactory results. It is. home 7 ever. to be understood that; these embodimegnls are cynical only eno that the various instrumon solltles of which my invention consists con Til) vorlously arranged and organised, and the 1mmlll tion is not limited to the precise arrangement onei organization of these instmmentolilies on hemln set forth.

Figure 1 is a. front elevation partly broken away of an apparatus ior measuring and! rocorollno. which can be employed in practicing my method.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of another embodiment of extensometer and pick up.

Figuie 3 is a side elevation of Figuxe 2.

Figure 4 is a. sectional detail on an enlavzeoi scale of the movable pivot and its mounting.

Figure 51s an exploded view, in perspective anal on an enlarged scale, of the body portion oi the extensometer and its adjuncts.

Figure 6 is an enlarged plan view of the clampingmechanism.

Figure '7 is a plan view of Figure 8.

Figure 8 shows mechanical connections between the pick up system, motor and dial arrangements.

Similar numerals indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings:

I designates a test piece, the elongation or compression of which is to be measured and recorded.

2 and 3 are the holding devices of the testing machine. 4 and 5 are pointed members or knife edges of any conventional construction, such as spring action screws or any other suitable mech-= anism which will not interfere with the axial movement of lever arms 6 and 1. The lever B has fixedly connected with it a knife edge 8 resting in a pan 9, fixed to the lever I. The pan 9 has pivot points I! to receive the pivots of screws fixed to the fork ll of a floating supporting bracket I2 which carries the weight of the entire sensitive system.

The bracket l2 has an arm l3 located at the general center of gravity of the floating system to which is connected one end of a cable H, which passes over a pulley l5 mounted on pivots i5, carried by a square post ll, fixed to the rigid frame work l8 of the testing machine. The cable 14 is connected to a counterweight is. The bracket H! has a hub 20 freely slidable on the post l'l.

A pick up arrangement is connected to the outer ends of the levers 6 and 'l and consists of a part of a sensitive unit 2| fixed to a screw 22 having a square part 23, which passes through a square hole in the lever I, and a second part of a sensitive unit 24 fixed to the lever 6.

Considering how the screw 22, this cannot turn in the lever 1 because of the square section 23 engaging a square hole in lever l. The screw 22 meshes with the internal threads of a shaft 26 which is externally threaded as at 2'! to mesh with the threaded opening 28 of the offset arm 29 of the lever I. The threads are in the same direction.

A gear 30 is fixed to the shaft 26 and meshes with an elongated pinion II which is free to slide on a shaft 32 but is prevented from relative rotation thereon. As illustrated the shaft 32 is a square shaft in cross section and passes through a square hole in the gear.

The mechanical means, herein disclosed, are much simpler, less expensive and more accurate.

The shaft 32 is round at the ends to receive its bearings 33 which take up axial forces on the shaft and are'mounted in any desired manner on the rigid frame of the testing machine. The upper end of the shaft 32 has a gear 34 fixed to it, said gear meshing with a gear 35 on shaft 36 journalled in bearings ll carried by the frame of the testing machine. A recording drum II is fixed on the shaft 36 in a certain zero angle position by means of a set screw 39. ll is any marking arrangement or indicator which will scribe a line on thesurface of the drum when it is turned. This pen by its axial position relative to the end of the drum gives one of the coordinates of the stress-strain diagram. Part of the drum can be graduated and together with a pointer, give at all times an immediate reading of the elongation of the test specimen.

The shaft 32 at its lower end has a gear 4| fixed to it, and this gear meshes with a gear 42 on a shaft 43 journalled in bearings ll carried in any desired manner by the testing machine frame. 'The shaft I! has a compound pulley ll fixed to it, and around this pulley an elastic belt 45 passes, said belt also passing around a compound pulley H on the shaft 48 of a reversible electric motor 49 suitably mounted on the testing machine frame, or any other desired location.

A compound pulley is preferably employed so that the relative speed between the motor and shaft 43 can be varied, although this is not necessary. If employed, however, it makes it easier to obtain the same degree of accuracy in charting the elongation curve on the drum no matter how fast the testing machine may be running.

The pick up arrangement is connected by conductors I! with the input of a vacuum tube amplifier 52. Conductors 53 connect the output of the amplifier 82 with the input of the motor controller 55 which is connected by conductors 88 with the reversible motor 49. The motor controller 55 may be any kind of a thermionic valve controlling device, using either vacuum tubes or thvratrons as grid controlled rectiflers, grid controlled resistors, grid controlled condensers or any other suitable arrangement. The pick-up system of these recorders as manufactured and sold has been an electro-magnetic coil with steel laminated case 2!, a similar case 2| with an air gap separating the cases.

The control system from 24 to I! may be similar to that shown in the Simonds Patent No 1,694,237, of December 4, 1928, or other control systems of similar characteristics. I

A variable impedance can be employed similar to that of Patent No. 1,694,237, with anampllfier in the circuit.

The amplifier 52 can be similar to that shown in my pending application, Serial No. 145,194.

The lever I has a screw 58 fixed to it, and on this screw is a knurled nut 59. In a similar manner the lever I has fixed to it a screw which carries a knurled nut 61. These nuts SI and 6| serve as counterweights and provide for independently adjusting the center of gravity of the lever arms 6 and 1 so that they will balance on the knife edge and pivot points.

The levers i and 1 may if desired be connected by balancing springs I2 and 63.

The weight of the counterweight i9 is exactly the combined weight of the floating system including parts 4 to i3 inclusive, 20 to II inclusive and 58 to SI inclusive. I

In the operation of this form of my invention, we will assume that the test piece or specimen I is stressed in the testing machine, and therefore elongates. The points 4 and I open up the scissor arrangement formed by the levers 8 and 1, while at their opposite ends-the levers move towards each other bringing the two halves of the pick up system nearer together. This sets up a voltage in the pick up system which consists of a balanced A. C. network of constant frequency but unbalanced by the relative movement of levers B and 1. This unbalanced voltage is conducted to the amplifier $2. The amplified voltage is conducted to the motor controller 64 which sets up a voltage and current through the motor 48 which will start rimning in a direction indicative of elongation in the specimen. The motor continues to run as long as voltage is present. The motor through the belt and pulley arrangement drives shaft 43, gears 42 and ll, shaft 32 and gears Ii and 30 which will move shaft 28, screw 22 and unit 2| until the initial geometric relative position of units 2| and 24 is restored within very close limits. The primary voltage was caused by a change in this relative position and the voltage till can be employed.

96 which cooperates with a sensitive unit 31 on will now disappear when the geometrical relations are restored. By geometrical relation, I mean the parts are restored substantially to their initial or starting position from which they have been moved.

As the shaft 32 revolves, the gears 34 and 35 will be driven to revolve the drum 98. The angle which the drum turns has a definite'relation to the elongations of the test specimen.

If the test specimen had been compressed the same action as explained would take place but in a reverse direction.

This method is suitable for taking both compression and elongation curves and can be used to take up directly mechanical hysteresis curves and also curves for the endurance and fatigue of a test piece, subjected to alternate compression and tension strains.

In this system the lost motion is so smallthat it can be disregarded. l

The lost motion in parts 4 and 5 can be made practically zero. The same holds true of knife edge ll, pan 5? and pivot points ill. The levers 6 and l are of ample cross sectional area so that no bending will occur. I

The only lost motion will be that between gears and ill and 3d and 35 but as these are on the same side they will cancel out and will not show on the graph, provided they are practically equal and themotor has sumcient speed to take up fast enough back. lash in mechanical movement. The latter is one of the requirements to the motor circuit and arrangement.

Instead of using two screws 22 and it only one Two screws give the same effeet as one with a very fine thread.

If screw shaft to has 7n external threads per inch and no internal threads per inch, one turn of the shaft ill will move part it an axial distance as shown in the following equation where d equals the distance. I

This screw arrangement provides certain advantages for the engineering of the apparatus.

In Figures 2 and 3, I have illustrated another embodiment of the invention which can be advantageously employed in carrying out my invention. In this embodiment E3 designates the body portion of an extensometer attachable to a test specimen to determine its change in length when subjected to a deforming stress tending to elongate or shorten the test specimen. The body portion has extending spaced dovetails fill, slotted at to receive fastening devices Elli which secure a bar t'] in adjusted position on the dovetails, the bar being slotted at till to receive the dovetails. designates an angle plate having openings it to receive the dovetails. The bar ll has pins encircled by springs l2 and extending into the angle plate. i3 is a nut carrying limiting pin. The angle plate Elli and body portiontt folm a U shaped frame to carry the moving parts. The bar G7 has bearing lugs M for a hook-shaped lever it which is recessed at T6 to receive a lug ii on the angle plate. free end of the lever 15 and an arm 79 on the angle plate tends to retain the hook in locked position. The angle plate 69 has fixed to it a knife edge 80. The body portion 63 carries a knife edge bearing 8! to receive the knife edge 82 of a lever 83. The arms of a lever. are fulcrumed at 85 on the lever 83 and the lower ends of these arms form a support for a sensitive unit A spring ill between the.

the lever 83. 88 is a plate spring fixed to the angle plate and 99 isa plate spring fixed to the body portion. The body portion carries a bracket 90 to receive a pivot pin ll of a bell crank 92. The lever 84 has a pin 93 against which bears a ball 94 carried by an arm of the bell crank a predetermined distance from the center line of its pivot, and a spring 95 maintains contact between the ball and the pin. A ball 96 in the other arm of the bell crank bearsagainst a micrometer screw 91 engaging a nut 99 fixed to the body portion. The screw 91 has a pin and slot connection with a shaft 99 to form a universal joint with no lost motion in it.

The shaft 99, see Figures 7 and 8, is supported in bearings Hll, preferably ball bearings canied by the support 32. The shaft 99 has a spiral gear I03 which meshes with a spiral gear HM slidable on a square shaft "96 Journalled in bearings Hi6 on the machine frame. A gear WI on the shaft 805 is adapted to mesh with the gear 42, Figure l. The support I02 is adjustable on a standard we and may be fixed in position by a fastening device lllli or counterbalanced by a counterweighted cable lit corresponding to it in Figure 1.

Comparing Figures '2' and 8 with Figure i, it will be seen that lot corresponds to ill. ltili lit, ltd to ti and Hill to 3d. The difierential screw or rangement of Figure l is not used in i igurw 7 and a but can be used if warranmd Ioythe desired magnification.

The principle is the same l' igure lhe difference is that gear iii-l3 is not Wed directly to the screw as n in Figure l. but are a versal joint on shaft til. the drive from motor all to gear MW is the same as the drive from d9 to gear M in Figure l.

The center line on which the pivots or" it and lit turn are the same.

If lever 83 is moved. an angle and lid is moved an angle +11 their relative position and the total geometrical configuration of parts rigidly attached to them will he the same as it was before any of them were moved.

In the operation of this iorrn of my invention the extensometcr n clamped to the specimen which isto be subjected to stress to vary its length. Assuming that the specimen elongates, lever 83 rocks on pivot dl changing the relative position of the sensitive unit and a voltage is generated in the pick up system, which passe: to the amplifier E32, see Figure l, to the motor control 55 and motor d9. Motor drives shaft Hi corresponding to m in Figure l and the messuring and recording device as in Figure ll.

The shaft SQ drives micrometer screw ill thereby bell cranlr 952 which moves lever dd to restore the original relation and configuration between the sensitive units.

The recording mechanism has been shown for the purpose of illustration as a revoluble drum coacting with a marker, controlled by some other mechanism. This relationship may be reversed. It will now be apparent that l have devised a new and useful method of and apparatus for measuring and indicating or automatically recording small distances which embody the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of the invention and the above description, and while I have, in the present instance, shown and described preferred embodiments thereof, which will give in practice satisfactory and reliable results, it is to be understood hit till

that these embodiments are susceptible to modiflcatlon in various particulars without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus for determining changes in distance of a test piece, comprising members having a counterbalanced floating fulcrum and connected with the test piece, a sensitive unit having a part on each member to provide a voltage on relative movement of said members, and a reversible electric motor controlled by said voltage and operatively connected with one of said members to restore the initial geometric relation of said sensitive unit.

2. An apparatus for determining changes in distance of a test piece, comprising members having a counterbalanced floating fulcrum and connected. with the test piece, a sensitive unit having part on each member to provide a voltage on relative movement of said members, a reversible electric motor controlled by said voltage and operatlvely connected with one of said members to restore the initial geometric relation of said sensitive unit and recording means driven by the operative connection between said motor and its member.

3. An apparatus for determining changes in distance of a test piece, comprising members having a counterbalanced floating fulcrumand connected with the test piece, a sensitive unit having a part on each member to provide a volt age on relative movement of said members, a reversible electric motor controlled by said-voltage and operatively connected with one of said members to restore the initial geometric relation of said sensitive unit, and an adjustable counterbalance ior each member.

t. An apparatus for determining changes in distance oi a test piece, comprising members having a counterbalanced floating fulcrum, a pick-up having a part on each member to pro- 5. An apparatus for determining changes in distance of a. test piece, comprising a post, a brack ,et movable thereon, members iulcrumed on said bracket and connected with the test piece, a pick-up having a part on each member cooperating to provide 9. voltage on relative movement of said members, a longitudinally adjustable connection on one oi said members, a reversible electric motor in circuit with said pick up to be controlled by its voltage and mechanically connected with said adjustable connection to restore the initial geometric relation of said pick-up parts, and a counterbalance for said bracket, members, pick-up and adjustable connection.

6. An apparatus for determining changes in distance of a test piece, comprising a counterbalanced bracket movably supported, members fulcrumed on said bracket and connected with the test piece, a pick-up having parts connected with said members to provide a voltage on their relative movement, a variable connection on one member having a gear, a second gear on said bracket meshing with the first gear, and a reversible motor in circuit with said pick-up and controlled by its voltage and mechanically connected with said second gear to restore the initial geometric relation of said pick-up parts.

7. An apparatus for determining changes in distance of a test piece, comprising members having a counterbalanced floating fulcrum and connected with the test piece, asensitive unit having a part on each member to provide 9. voltage on relative movement of said members, and an electric motor controlled by said voltage and operatively connected with one of said members to restore the initial geometric relation of said sensitive unit. I

JENS SIVERTSEN. 

